Oh 2020, you unpredictable minx you. How I'm coping with the overwhelm that is this year.

You’d have to have been living under a very large boulder to not notice this year has been a real balls up thus far, bit like pushing shit up hill. There have been the obvious suspects, drought, bush fires, the big C and the massive wake up call that is the black lives matter movement. On a more personal level, there have been several 'Is this actually happening?’ moments too. They have been scary and heartbreaking, and I’m not going to go into detail but trust me when I tell you, I will not be exiting 2020 the same person as when it all began.

So months have now passed since my last blog post. I had big plans to update my site during iso, in time for my 1 year ‘blog birthday’ ('blirthday'?) back in June. I’ve drafted several blog posts but failed to finish, I've many an idea sitting on the back burner, but in all honesty, when it came to the crunch, nothing has felt meaningful enough to share. My words at this time feel weightless, trivial even.

I think the biggest issue I’ve been facing is overwhelm (I'm pretty all of my dear readers will be feeling this), which then leads to guilt, which then leads to procrastination, the old knock-on effect! There is so much to worry about right now; so much action needs to be taken. What can I do? Who do I support? What do I need to know? Who do I believe/listen to? How can I best serve myself, my family, mother earth, human kind? Where do I start? Am I doing enough? I’m doing this all wrong! Arrggghhh! Fuck.this. shit. You get where I’m going here. OVERWHELM!

Now I’m not going to tell you how I remedied this, because I’m still working on that. I’ve found a few things that are helping me though, and I thought I would share, in case you need them too, or at least a reminder that you're not alone, and you got this. So here goes.

My easing 2020 overwhelm action plan (aka managing my #covidrage)

· Limiting my exposure to the news. News is 99% doom and gloom, I just don’t need that negativity on a daily basis.

· Believing I am making a difference no matter how small an act I make. Reading an important book, signing a petition, writing to a politician, keeping physically and mentally healthy through good grub & movement, sharing important messages via social media, listening to other people's perspectives. These are all valid and I am making a meaningful contribution by doing one or all of these.

· Being intentional with my time. This is a biggy for me as I can very easily flit from one thing to the next and put my joy projects at the bottom of my priority list. My aim is to make a concerted effort to put keep those love jobs at the top (sounds kinky but it's totes not).

· So cliche, but so very true, practising gratitude. Never has this been more relevant than now. Thought, written, said out aloud, gratitude in any form is where it's at!

And while we're chatting gratitude, I may have mentioned before that I’m a big Pip Lincolne fan-girl; she’s an amazing blogger, crafter and book author extraordinaire. Pip has an exercise called Three Good Things Thursday on her website, and the idea is to write down three good things (there's power in three's apparently) that have either happened that day or week, simple as that. I’m not great at sticking with gratitude journals or a daily journaling practice, so jotting down just three things once a week is do-able by my standards (kids could easily do this too). And to help with the exercise, I created a PDF, laminated it and have stuck it to a small cork board in my bedroom as a gentle reminder to practice this easy act of giving thanks.

And to show my gratitude for you taking time out of your day to read my blog, I am offering this PDF as a freebie when you subscribe. All you have to do is fill in your deets below and hopefully my technology skills have worked, and this gift will land in your inbox shortly. You’ll also receive a monthly email from me, I promise not to bombard you with spamy type stuff.

Take care, stay well,

xx Kara

P.S For those new here, a warm welcome to you. And for those who have been here before, you’ll have received an email with the low down on why I decided to update my site and all that jazz. And your freebie should already be in your inbox (check your junk folder just in case). Hope you like the new look!